A few years ago, miniature pigs were all the rage. Unfortunately, many people couldn’t tell the difference between a normal and a miniature pig, and many entrepreneurial farm kids took advantage of the market. It didn’t take people long to realize they had been swine-dled, however, for pigs can exceed 250 pounds in six months. Just imagine your surprise when your little Piglet turns out to be a full-grown Pooh Bear. Oh, bother!
During the pandemic, we unwittingly invited a similar beast into our homes: the 24/7 Digital Pig. What started as a convenient smartphone has since grown into a 500-pound feral boar. Zoom pigs, email pigs, and social media pigs already devoured our lives before the pandemic, but I am not sure we can feed these monsters anymore. With COVID hopefully waning, maybe it’s time to send this digital piggy to the market.
Remember when computers were supposed to simplify our lives? Enhanced communications would enrich our relationships. Technology would declutter our schedules, so we could focus on the people and activities that mattered. Less stress, less worry, more sleep. We would even use less paper. Smartphones were supposed to tie it all up into one cuddly package. Those crafty country kids on the side of the road lied to us!
We now navigate giant piles of digital clutter (the piglet and Pooh jokes write themselves!). We even use more paper than ever before. I measure cash register receipts by the foot now, which simply adds insult to injury after self-checking and self-paying. I missed the training, so I have discovered that not all apples are coded equally. I complained to customer service, but it is self-service, too. Now it’s just a giant mirror and a frustrated bald guy holding a bag of ridiculously expensive honey-crisp apples.
Unfortunately, all these so-called technological conveniences have crept into education, too. After the pandemic, we learned that 24/7 instruction, feedback, parent-teacher conferences, and tutoring were all possible and necessary. Online learning has its place, but for most educators, parents, and students, learning is as social as cerebral. More collaborative than computerized. Some students and teachers thrive in a virtual world, but most of us hated it, especially when given an option.
We are now starting to reclaim some normalcy, and virtual school at 2 AM and weeks of quarantines are less necessary, so why are we still feeding this smartphone hog? Between social media, texts, emails, and midnight snacks, I don’t know how anyone gets any sleep. Families are more exhausted than ever, and I believe it is partly due to the cute little piglet that turned into a 24/7 digital nightmare.
Families need downtime. We need to reclaim our nights and weekends (or whenever you can catch a moment of rest). The 24/7 digital pig has gobbled up every spare minute, and what once helped us cope with the pandemic has become our tusked overlord. Life is already hectic enough; we don’t need work and school dominating our homes and family times any more than it already does.
Unfortunately, this 24/7 digital pig will never go away. We cannot butcher it, but we can put it in a pen where it belongs. Social media, texts, and emails will still be there in the morning, and somewhere among those apps is an actual phone, so someone can call you if it’s important. Parents, students, and educators need a break from the digital monster we have created over the last two years. Let’s unplug, log-off, and disconnect more. Trust me, no matter how much that 24/7 digital pig squeals the world won’t end if we ignore it occasionally. And if anyone is thinking of buying a cute little mini pig, consider a layaway plan. If the little guy adds 40 pounds in a month, you don’t have a pet; you have a pork dinner, and it’s really hard to find a sparkly phone case for one of those.
Tom Deighan is currently the superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. Email: deighantom@gmail.com Past articles: www.mostlyeducational.com
